Is everyone picking the Eagles?

Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com

Posted:
Saturday, October 17, 2009, 4:29 PM

To quote the great George Costanza after he ate the mango, "I'm back, baby!"

Some of you have e-mailed or commented, asking why MTC was missing from the Eagles page on the new philly.com/sports redesign. No MTC promo, coupled with the fact that I wrote less this week than usual, led a couple of you to ask if the blog was done.

The answer is no. We will be around from now until eternity. The truth is that we didn't know how to properly feature three blogs on the Eagles page, since we only have two on most of the other sections. So we launched the new site with just Eagletarian and Birds' Eye View there.

I apologize for not writing as much this week. My day job is to manage the sports content on philly.com so I was swamped getting the new site ready (plus that whole NLCS thing). We're excited about our new look and have some big things planned.

I'm anxious to hear what you think. What do you like? What don't you like? And so on.

But anyway, it's time for our weekly look at who's picking the Eagles against the Raiders (hint: everybody). We'll also sprinkle in some other links. My picks will come Sunday morning. And we'll live chat the Raiders game Sunday at 4.

A buddy of mine Tweeted this week and asked if there was any hope for his Raiders. Told him I'd get back to him. Still haven't. I don't know what to say. What's the stage beyond pathetic? The body language of JaMarcus Russell last week at Giants Stadium said to me, I wish I was anywhere but here.

With their next two games at Oakland and at Washington, look for the Eagles to keep right on rolling and maybe do their part to get the Raiders' Tom Cable and the Redskins' Jim Zorn canned by midseason. Other than in the second half of a home loss to the Saints in Week 2, no one has remotely stopped Philadelphia's offense yet.

A textbook "They Can't Make This Line High Enough" game. I wouldn't have blinked at 24. By the way, the Michael Vick cameos have been even more awkward than when they tried to work Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling into the "90210" remake. Hold on, we promised them they could have three scenes. It's so hard to get back into game shape after being in the joint. It just is. Remember how bad the food and sleeping conditions were in college? Quintuple it. And add a hard bed and showering with other dudes. Yeah.

How low can the Raiders go? Just watch. They can't score on anybody and they can't stop anybody. Now they get an Eagles offense that is getting into a groove. JaMarcus Russell's head will be spinning trying to figure out all those Eagles blitzes. This one will hurt Raiders fans worse than getting pushed out of chair by Tom Cable.

The Eagles have been firing on all cylinders, and the Raiders are like a yard-sale lawnmower with a loose spark plug. This one will be ugly on the field, and the stuff coming from the stands at the Black Hole could be even uglier.

Donovan McNabb has enough playmakers on offense to have his choice of options every time he drops back to pass, and I don’t expect that to change out in Oakland. The defensive line for the Raiders was keeping them in games, but after last week in New York, they present just another issue for a team that can’t put together a complete game. JaMarcus Russell will be pressured early and McNabb could see some rest in the second half. I am taking Philly to roll.

Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with
his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to
discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or
by clicking here